Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/348131
I DA U N I V E R S A L J u l y -Au g u s t 2 0 1 4 23 Messia, also Italian, will deploy four new container/ ro-ro units at the end of the year. Danish carrier Nordana will deploy a new ro-ro ship by the end of the year, boost- ing capacity of its Mediterra- nean-Americas service by 35 percent. e major talking point in the industry centers on the prospects for fi ve of the world's biggest ro-ro/container vessels that Atlantic Container Line will introduce in the North Atlantic in 2015, replacing the workhorse vessels that have carved out a niche market between Europe and North For now, however, the industry is enjoying a mini- boom, with traffi c climbing above pre-recession levels. Ro-ro traffi c grew 3.5 percent year-over-year in 2013 at Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, driven by recovery on key U.K. routes. Container- ized volume, by contrast, slipped 2.1 percent in the same period. Scandlines, the Danish-German ferry opera- tor that sold its freight arm in 2012, carried 700,000 trucks and trailers on its passenger vessels in 2013, up 3.2 percent from the previous year, while passenger numbers were down 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, DFDS, one of North Europe's largest ro-ro shipping and logistics groups, is prowling for fresh acquisi- tions following a largely slow period a er it snapped up Maersk's Norfolkline subsid- iary for around $425 million in 2010. And Greece, a key ro-ro shipping hub that was widely expected to default and exit the euro two years ago, is showing signs of recovery. e uptick is coming at just the right time as carriers take delivery of new, larger ships, most earmarked for intra-Mediterranean long-haul routes between Europe and West Africa and the east coast of South America. Naples- based Grimaldi is adding three multipurpose container/ro-ro vessels to its fl eet this year; fel- low Italian carrier Atlantica di Navigazione is phasing in fi ve ro-ro ships it acquired from Hong Kong's Pacifi c Basin for $200 million; and Ignazio America over the past 30 years. e Grimaldi subsidiary faces a tough challenge fi lling the new vessels, which — at 3,800 20-foot-equivalent units — have more than twice the container-carrying capac- ity of the outgoing ships, 45 percent more ro-ro space and 31 percent more auto capacity, in a trade that has tradition- ally posted sluggish, if steady, growth in recent years. It will likely launch a direct South Atlantic-North Europe service that will benefi t from connec- tions with its Italian parent's extensive European short- and long-haul networks. e share of new cars shipped by sea has stabilized at 16 to 18 percent of global sales in recent years, with Japan and South Korea driving exports, but changes in key regional markets will increasingly infl uence demand for seaborne transportation. Although autos are extremely important to the Ro/Ro industry, some carriers specialize in high and heavy euqipment such as exca- vators, agricultural machines, cranes and similar large-scale items. Ocean car carriers, meanwhile, are looking forward to another year of Continued on page 26